As House and Senate Leaders Dig In, Washington Careens Toward Government Shutdown

Sep. 19, 2013 - 03:45AM
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Sen. Ted Cruz, left, and Speaker of the House John Boehner, right. Cruz has been one of the most prominent senators advocating to defund Obamacare. Boehner on Thursday called the health care law 'a train wreck.' (Getty Images)

Showdown Over a Shutdown

If the White House and lawmakers on Capitol Hill fail to agree on a temporary spending deal by Monday, the US government will shut down for the first time since 1996. Click here for complete coverage. -----

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WASHINGTON — House Republican and Senate Democratic leaders traded barbs Thursday about a government-wide spending bill as the threat of a government shutdown seemed to grow considerably.

House Speaker John Boehner, honoring the wishes of many in his caucus, has scheduled a rare Friday vote on legislation that would keep the Pentagon and other federal agencies funded through Dec. 15. But, raising the ire of congressional Democrats, it also would strip away any funding for President Barack Obama’s health care law.

Boehner said the health care law “is a train wreck,” adding “it must go.”

By attaching Obamacare-killing language to the CR, House Republicans are attempting to force Senate Democrats to choose between keeping alive a Democratic president’s signature domestic policy achievement and averting a government shutdown at a time when the party controls one chamber and the White House.

The House could approve its CR on Friday, sending it to the Senate, which is expected to strip the Obamacare language and send what Senate Democratic leaders call “a clean CR” back to the lower chamber.

What happens next remains unclear, with Boehner saying Thursday he “won’t speculate on what the Senate’s going to do.”

For the Pentagon and defense sector, a shutdown would close government offices where DoD and industry employees work on everything from ground vehicles to aircraft to ships.

A shutdown was narrowly averted in April 2011. At that time, the Pentagon said a shutdown would be “extremely disruptive.”

With no funding, defense firms would not get paid. Neither would workers, sending a chill over the still-sputtering US economy.

Christian Marrone, vice president for National Security and Acquisition Policy at the Aerospace Industries Association, noted a six-day furlough Pentagon employees were forced to take hurt defense companies. A shutdown would have similar effects, he said.

"The recent furloughs — even though it was just six days — had a dramatic impact in a variety of areas on our member companies trying to transact business with the department on a daily basis," Marrone said. "DoD’s civilian employees were limited to 32 hours per week when normally most of the people in the Pentagon work well over 40 hours, so we saw a substantial drop in productivity, whether it was in the program offices in the testing area or working acquisition policy issues.

"When you translate that to a shutdown, it grinds everything to a complete halt. There isn’t even anyone to pick up the phones at that point," he said. "Our companies are always dialoguing with the [Defense] Department on various issues; if the government’s not in business, it just adds further delays to what we’ve already seen under furloughs."

Senate Democratic leaders stood their ground Thursday, warning House GOP leaders that an Obamacare-killing CR is dead on arrival in the upper chamber.